Braden Looper: Reports he's nearing deal with Brewers- Latest: Melvin confirms interest, but nothing imminent

[dpapo]

I would be really surprised if the Brewers would be willing to give Looper a 3 year deal for $27 million. A year ago maybe, but with the way the free agent market is going this year, other than top free agents, I wouldn't expect the Brewers to give Looper that type of a deal.

[crewcrazy]

He's got a 2.61 ERA against the Cubs in about 90 career innings. Probably means nothing, but I thought it was interesting.

 

Like everyone else, I guess I'm fine with this assuming we're not giving him Suppan money. His addition could probably move McClung into the bullpen and puts less pressure on Capuano to pitch well enough to get back to the majors. You kinda have to worry about a guy heading into his age 34 season that threw nearly 200 innings last season and has only been starting for two years...could durability be a problem?

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Wow, I was looking at Looper's stats and he refuses to walk people. Only 45 walks in 199 innings last year with 108 K's. That's a nice ratio and a solid #3 starter in my book if he can replicate that in 2009.

[PeaveyFury]

I really like this idea, hopefully this isn't in the same boat with 'Cameron to Yankees will likely happen within a day'.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Looking it his stats, i'll pass. Born in 74. So he'll be 35, 36, and 37 in the three years of this deal (if its a three year deal). His ERA (4.9 and 4.1) = 4.5 avg as a starter = league average. Yawn. If we could get him for $2-3 million, fine. He is NOT worth 3/27. Not when we could get Lowe (who is essentially the same age and a proven #2) for 3/36 (according to some here).

 

This signing screams of a panic move and majorly overpaying for mediocrity.

[trwi7]

Not a bad depth move. I just hope we didn't overpay.

[Ennder]

If we could get him for $2-3 million

 

If we can get him for that price he'd be one of the biggest FA bargains in the past 5 years, he is worth considerably more than that.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I dont so much mind this signing as I mind what it means. I am really hoping to add an impact pitcher and Looper is far from that. I think he is slightly worse than Bush and better than Suppan. He is a 4/5 starter type which is fine when your goal is depth but I really think we need an ace atop the rotation with Gallardo. If Looper is the best pitcher we acquire this offseason then I just dont see us being viable contenders next season.

 

As far as what I would pay I would say no more than 10 mil over 2 years. Anything more than that and I will be upset. I would hate to go into next season with only one starting pitcher (Gallardo) that I fully trust in the rotation and a bunch of 4s and 5s behind him.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Looking it his stats, i'll pass. Born in 74. So he'll be 35, 36, and 37 in the three years of this deal

I don't worry about age as much with sinkerballers because they don't rely on the high velocity as much. Those type of pitchers age a lot better than the flame throwers. See Greg Maddux and Derek Lowe.

[Brian the Automator]

Yeah, I agree with many others here that he could be a decent value for the money.

 

Plus the dude's got a monster chin.

[TheCrew07]

I'm not opposed to sinkerball pitchers in general... but I wonder why Doug is signing another ground ball type pitcher with our crappy defense. We need Ks and FBs, unless the infield gets overhauled... Then again if he's the best value for the money, other than I hate to sign FA pitchers it wouldn't be a bad signing.

[Robideaux]

My first thought was, "Yuk!" Then I looked at his numbers, and on second thought: "Yuk." Do we really want more than a quarter of our payroll tied up in our 4th and 5th starters? I know you can't undo the Suppan signing, but can't we learn from it?

 

If a contract ends up in the $4 million range, then I'm unimpressed, but not incensed. If it is closer to the $8-9 million that I expect, then any faith I have in Melvin having any sort of plan to rebuild/retool is lost. Sure, we need a pitcher, but who is Looper knocking out of the rotation? McClung? I'm not convinced that the marginal win jump from McClung to Looper is worth millions in opportunity cost. Use that money to bring in a high OBP FA bat for a few million more than Looper. Wouldn't a trade of Hart plus a prospect pu-pu platter (Salome + Nelson for instance) bring in a pitcher who we could plug in between Gallardo and Parra instead of between Bush and Suppan?

 

With a defensive IF that may include Lamb, Weeks, and Fielder, I'd have much more faith in a pitcher that is not so reliant on the defense to get out of trouble.

[snyttri]

It looks like he improved quite a bit in his second year as a starter and he doesn't have many innings on his arm, so maybe he'll be a relatively youthful and still improving 34 next season.

[PeaveyFury]

My first thought was, "Yuk!" Then I looked at his numbers, and on second thought: "Yuk.

 

I guess I'm not looking at the numbers the same way. He was a solid starter last year, and in the past had been a very good reliever on a very consistent basis. Unless they're talking 8-10 million for him, I fail to see the harm in a 2-3 year deal for something like 12-18 million.

[Tbadder]

Big Looper fan here--just does his job, battles, throws lots of innings. Gives real flexibility, and I betcha we got money to sign other players as well (read Sheets or Fuentes). If it's the only signing of course that could mean trouble, but I just don't believe it's gonna end here.

[brewmann04]

now we sign either Hoffman or smolz to close

[brewtank34]

I'd be ok with 3/18 million. If we can unload Suppan (along with some major cash of course) and obtain another 1-2 SP, I'd be ok with this. We need a quality arm between Yo and Manny.

[logan82]

Well I wanted 2 guys better than Suppan and this would be one. One more to go.

[Weirdos19]

If we don't spend 10mil per year on a pitcher, we may still add a left handed bat.

 

I hear guys like Abreu and Dunn will have to lower their asking price. Would love to see a 2/20 for Abreu or a 4/40 for Dunn.

 

Looper is a sinker pitcher. An essential quality for the NL Central ballparks.

[fleehaw]

Speaking of lowering prices, MLBTR was suggesting that Fuentes will not receive his 3/30M deal. Instead, he'll most likely be in the 15-18M range over 3 years.

 

At that price, any team in need of a closer should be jumping at their chance. Cough-Doug-Cough.

 

Adding Looper and Fuentes would go a long way to solidifying the pitching staff.

[brewtank34]

With a signing like this and a possibility that no other SP's get signed/traded for...is it ok to assume that DM and Mark A are waiting for next year's crop of: Lackey, Beckett, Bedard, Harden, Hudson, Meyers, Wellemeyer etc?

[RU Rah Rah]

Depending on the contract, I think it's probably OK. The rotation definitely needs some bolstering. Also, it would harm the Cards, which is a good thing.

[brewtank34]

I'd also be ok with Looper being our Closer.

[PeaveyFury]

Melvin confirms interest in Looper, per Tom H, but "not close":

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/36539949.html

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm not sure what anyone is seeing in his stats that say he's anything more than a 4th starter. He's never topped 200 innings. His BA against last year was .279. How many Brewers hit over .279 last year? 2? His SPA was .438.

 

Not many on here like Jon Garland, but you put Garland in the NL and his numbers would be similar to Looper's and he's 5 years younger.

 

Like someone mentioned, the Brewers are paying over $10 million per year the next 2 years for basically a 5th starter. Why on earth would they want to have nearly $20 million tied up in their 4th and 5th starters? If Daniel Cabrera is only worth a one year $2.6 million deal, Looper is certainly not worth more than double that.

 

A guy like Oliver Perez at least has the stuff to be an above average starter. If you want to spend close to $10 million, go for Perez, not Looper. Heck Odalis Perez who you could get for $2 million or less might be a better value than $8 or $9 million for Looper.

 

By the way, here's an interesting stat. Odalis Perez, who nobody seems interested in, had one fewer quality start (14) than Looper who had 15. Perez did it in 30 starts compared to 33 for Looper.